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68-785: At a young age, Yixin was already noted for his brilliance and was once considered by his father the Daoguang Emperor as a potential heir. However, his older half-brother Yizhu eventually inherited the throne as the Xianfeng Emperor . During the Second Opium War in 1860, Prince Gong negotiated with the British, French and Russians, signing the Convention of Beijing on behalf of the Qing Empire. Following

136-555: A White Rainbow Sword (白虹刀) as a gift. Yixin was mentored by Zhuo Bingtian (卓秉恬) and Jia Zhen (賈楨), two eminent scholar-officials who obtained the position of jinshi (進士; successful candidate) in the imperial examination in 1802 and 1826 respectively. In 1850, when the Daoguang Emperor became critically ill, he summoned Zaiquan (載銓), Zaiyuan , Duanhua , Sengge Rinchen , Mujangga , He Rulin (何汝霖), Chen Fu'en (陳孚恩) and Ji Zhichang (季芝昌) to Shende Hall (慎德堂) in

204-517: A declining empire with Westerners encroaching upon the borders of China. His era name , "Daoguang", means "radiant path". The Daoguang Emperor had been ruling for six years when the exiled heir to the Khojas , Jahangir Khoja , attacked Xinjiang from Kokand in the Afaqi Khoja revolts . By the end of 1826, the former Qing cities of Kashgar , Yarkand , Khotan , and Yangihissar had all fallen to

272-546: A decree to praise Prince Gong for his effective leadership in the regency that led to the end of the rebellion – in addition to conferring more prestigious titles on his sons Zaicheng, Zaijun and Zaiying. As the longstanding leader of the Zongli Yamen , which he established in 1861, Prince Gong was responsible for spearheading various reforms in the early stages of the Self-Strengthening Movement ,

340-808: A part. It was said that the emperor did not even know where Britain was located in the world. His 30-year reign saw rising economic tensions , sectarian instability and foreign interventions which would eventually lead to the collapse of the Qing dynasty in 1911. The Daoguang Emperor was interred in the Mu (慕; lit. "Longing" or "Admiration") mausoleum complex, which is part of the Western Qing Tombs , 120 km southwest of Beijing. Empress Imperial Noble Consort Noble Consort Consort Concubine Noble Lady Second Class Attendant Lady-in-waiting Enthroned in 1626 as Khan , Hong Taiji changed

408-758: A place in the Imperial Ancestral Temple , which meant that she would not be included in ancestral worship rites . When the Xianfeng Emperor died on 22 August 1861, his first son and successor, the Tongzhi Emperor , was still too young to rule. In the Xinyou Coup that followed, the Empresses Dowager Ci'an and Cixi collaborated with Yixin to overthrow and seize power from a group of eight regents appointed by

476-467: A purist view even if they had nothing to say about the domestic and foreign problems surrounding the dynasty". The Daoguang Emperor was born in the Forbidden City , Beijing , in 1782, and was given the name Mianning ( 绵宁 ; 綿寧 ; Miánníng ; Mien-ning ). It was later changed to Minning ( 旻宁 ; 旻寧 ; Mǐnníng ; Min-ning ) when he became emperor. The first character of his private name

544-474: A role model of loyalty that all Qing subjects should learn from. Primary Consort Secondary Consort Puwei ‘s Family PuRu ’s Family Yuli 毓岦 Yucen 毓岑 PuYou's Family Yujunyan 毓君彥 QiHui 啟芸 (Jinun) PuHui's Family Yuhuan 毓峘 Qiyuan 啟芫(Jinan) Qien 啟恩(Jinen) Prince Gong's former residence in Xicheng District , Beijing is now open to the public as a museum and garden park. It

612-472: A series of measures and policy changes implemented by the Qing government with the aim of modernising China. He also founded the Tongwen Guan in 1862 for Chinese scholars to study technology and foreign languages. Around April 1865, an official, Cai Shouqi (蔡壽祺), accused Prince Gong of "monopolising state power, accepting bribes, practising favouritism, behaving arrogantly, and showing disrespect towards

680-518: Is known as the "Cabinet Change of Jiashen" (甲申易樞) or "Political Change of Jiashen" (甲申朝局之變) because it took place in the jiashen year according to the Chinese sexagenary cycle . In 1894, when the Japanese invaded Korea and the situation became dire, Empress Dowager Cixi summoned Prince Gong back to the imperial court, placed him in charge of the Zongli Yamen again, and tasked him with supervising

748-631: Is usually misunderstood as a name: Prince   Kung in older sources and Prince   Gong in newer ones. He was also sometimes known as the "Sixth Prince" or, less flatteringly, "Devil #6". He was posthumously known as "the Respectful and Loyal Prince of the Blood": Prince Kung-chung or Gongzhong. Yixin was born in the Aisin Gioro clan, the imperial clan of the Manchu -led Qing dynasty , as

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816-518: The Beiyang Fleet (the Qing navy) and military affairs. Although Prince Gong had been recalled to politics, Empress Dowager Cixi also decreed that since he had not yet recovered from illness, he was exempted from having to constantly attend court sessions. In 1898, Prince Gong was appointed as zongling again, but he became critically ill by the end of April. Empress Dowager Cixi visited him thrice during this period of time. He eventually died at

884-552: The Great Qing Legal Code . Protestants hoped that the Qing government would discriminate between Protestantism and Catholicism, since the law mentioned the latter by name, but after Protestant missionaries gave Christian books to Chinese people in 1835 and 1836, the Daoguang Emperor demanded to know who were the "traitorous natives" in Guangzhou who had supplied them with books. The Daoguang Emperor granted

952-724: The Hall of Mental Cultivation . In 1857, Empress Dowager Kangci was interred in the Mu Mausoleum of the Western Qing tombs . She was also granted the posthumous title "Empress Xiaojing". The Xianfeng Emperor did not add the character cheng – indicating her status as an empress consort of the Daoguang Emperor, as were Empresses Xiaomu cheng , Xiaoshen cheng and Xiaoquan cheng – to her posthumous title because he wanted to highlight his belief that Empress Dowager Kangci never qualified as an empress consort. He also did not give her

1020-697: The Imperial Clan Court ) and zongling (宗令; Head of the Imperial Clan Court ). He was publicly praised in May 1855 after the Taiping rebels were driven out of Jinan. When Prince Gong's mother died in August 1855, the Xianfeng Emperor reprimanded Prince Gong for failing to observe court protocol and removed him from the Grand Council and his zongling and dutong appointments. However, Prince Gong

1088-680: The Imperial Russian Army and stockpile military supplies. The generals Shengbao (勝保), Jingchun (景淳) and others were ordered to oversee training of Qing troops stationed in Beijing and northeast China . Before the Xianfeng Emperor died in August 1861 in the Chengde Mountain Resort , he appointed a group of eight regents – led by Zaiyuan , Duanhua and Sushun – to assist his underage son and successor, Zaichun . Yixin's flexible attitude towards dealing with

1156-521: The Nian rebels approached the suburbs of Beijing, Prince Gong was tasked with mobilising troops and managing defence arrangements. He was also appointed as you zongzheng (右宗正; Right Director of the Imperial Clan Court ). In 1869, An Dehai , a court eunuch and close aide of Empress Dowager Cixi, was arrested and executed in Shandong Province by Ding Baozhen , the provincial governor. This

1224-593: The Old Summer Palace , where he revealed to them a secret edict he wrote previously. According to the edict, the Fourth Prince, Yizhu, would become the new emperor while Yixin, the Sixth Prince, would be made a qinwang (first-rank prince) . He died on the same day. However, it is rumored that Yixin was the real successor emperor, and the secret decree have been tampered with. Yizhu ascended

1292-489: The Prince Gong title/peerage ; an increment in salary to twice that of a normal qinwang (first-rank prince) ; exemptions from having to kowtow in the emperor's presence and having to write his name on memorials submitted to the emperor. Prince Gong firmly declined to accept the "iron-cap" privilege, and instead sought to be concurrently appointed as zongling (宗令; Head of the Imperial Clan Court ) and put in charge of

1360-625: The Qing imperial family. His courtesy or art name was "Master of the Yuedao Hall" or "Hall of the Way of Music". Kung is the Wade-Giles romanisation of Mandarin pronunciation of the same Chinese character 恭 , now spelt Gōng in pinyin . It is not really a name but a part of a descriptive title — " The Respectful Prince of the Blood " — previously borne by Changning , the fifth son of

1428-539: The Qing dynasty , and the sixth Qing emperor to rule over China proper . His reign was marked by "external disaster and internal rebellion". These include the First Opium War and the beginning of the Taiping Rebellion which nearly brought down the dynasty. The historian Jonathan Spence characterizes the Daoguang Emperor as a "well meaning but ineffective man" who promoted officials who "presented

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1496-538: The Shenjiying (a firearms-equipped unit in the Qing army). The two empress dowagers also ordered Prince Gong to supervise Hongde Hall (弘德殿; a hall in the Forbidden City ), where the Tongzhi Emperor studied. In 1864, Qing forces finally suppressed the Taiping Rebellion after a war lasting more than a decade, and recaptured Jiangning (江寧; in present-day Nanjing ) from the rebels. The imperial court issued

1564-551: The Shunzhi Emperor . The Chinese title 王 translates literally as "king" but is usually understood as a "prince" in terms of the imperial Chinese nobility . Because Changning's rank had not been given "iron-cap" status , each generation of his descendants were reduced in rank unless they somehow proved themselves anew and earned a new title of their own. Yixin, however, was given "iron-cap" status and his direct heirs inherited his full title as well. In English, however, it

1632-654: The Tongzhi Restoration (1860–74). Despite his demotions in 1865 and 1874 for alleged corruption and disrespect towards the Emperor, Prince Gong continued to lead the Grand Council and remained a highly influential figure in the Qing government. The final decades of Prince Gong's career, under the reign of his nephew the Guangxu Emperor , were marred by his conflict with conservative elements in

1700-668: The British in the Treaty of Nanjing in August 1842, and also pay a hefty indemnity which left the treasury desperate for funds. Meanwhile, in the Himalayas, the Sikh Empire attempted an occupation of Tibet but was defeated in the Sino-Sikh war (1841–1842). In 1811, a clause sentencing Europeans to death for spreading Catholicism had been added to the statute called "Prohibitions Concerning Sorcerers and Sorceresses" (禁止師巫邪術) in

1768-588: The Daoguang Emperor's reign, China experienced major problems with opium , which was imported into China by British merchants. Opium had started to trickle into China during the reign of the Yongzheng Emperor , but was limited to approximately 200 chests annually. By the time of the Qianlong era, this amount had increased to 1,000 chests, 4,000 chests by the Jiaqing era and more than 30,000 chests during

1836-595: The Daoguang era. The Daoguang Emperor issued many imperial edicts banning opium in the 1820s and 1830s, which were carried out by Lin Zexu , whom he appointed as an Imperial Commissioner to Canton . Lin Zexu's efforts to halt the spread of opium in China led directly to the First Opium War . With China losing the war, Lin Zexu was made a scapegoat. The Daoguang Emperor removed his authority and banished him to Yili . During

1904-534: The Emperor". The Empress Dowagers Ci'an and Cixi publicly reprimanded Prince Gong and stripped him of his position as Prince-Regent. Yishen (奕脤), Yixuan , Wang Zheng (王拯), Sun Yimou (孫翼謀), Yin Zhaoyong (殷兆鏞), Pan Zuyin , Wang Weizhen (王維珍), Guangcheng (廣誠) and others pleaded with the empress dowagers to pardon Prince Gong and make him Prince-Regent again. Although the empress dowagers did not restore Prince Gong as Prince-Regent, they permitted him to remain in

1972-464: The French. As a consequence, Empress Dowager Cixi reprimanded Prince Gong and his colleagues for their dispirited and indecisive attitude towards the war, and removed them from their positions. Prince Gong stopped receiving his double salary and was ordered to retire to recuperate from illness. However, he started receiving his double salary again from November 1886 and was allowed to receive his share of

2040-511: The Qing Empire and the great powers of that era, as well as for his attempts to modernise China in the late 19th century. His former residence, " Prince Gong's Mansion ", is now one of Beijing 's few AAAAA-rated tourist attractions . Yixin is the pinyin romanisation of the Mandarin pronunciation of his Manchu name I-hin. He shared his surname Aisin Gioro with the other members of

2108-404: The Qing imperial court – In particular, his conflict with his former ally, Cixi, deepened his disillusionment with the court, and eventually opted to withdraw from politics and live in seclusion in the temple. Having established in 1861 the Zongli Yamen , the Qing government's de facto foreign affairs ministry, Prince Gong is best remembered for advocating greater constructive engagement between

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2176-624: The Western powers had put him at odds with the eight regents, who were politically conservative and opposed to Western influence. Upon request, Prince Gong was granted permission to travel to Chengde to attend the funeral. In Chengde, he met the Empress Dowagers Ci'an and Cixi and told them about how the eight regents monopolised state power. When the Xianfeng Emperor's coffin arrived back in Beijing in November 1861, Prince Gong and

2244-402: The Xianfeng Emperor on his deathbed. The two empresses dowager thus became the regents for the Tongzhi Emperor, with Yixin assisting as Prince-Regent. On 6 May 1862, in order to secure Yixin's allegiance towards the Tongzhi Emperor, the two empresses dowager issued an imperial decree that added the character cheng to Empress Dowager Kangci's posthumous title. Empress Dowager Kangci was also given

2312-405: The Xianfeng Emperor. In order to save himself from public embarrassment, the Emperor, although being displeased, reluctantly acknowledged the title later. She became Empress Dowager Kangci on 13 August 1855 and died eight days later. The Xianfeng Emperor appointed two princes, one of whom was Yixin, to take charge of the funeral arrangements, and announced that he would spend the mourning period in

2380-434: The age of 67 (by East Asian age reckoning ) in May. The Guangxu Emperor personally attended Prince Gong's funeral and, as a sign of mourning, cancelled imperial court sessions for five days and ordered mourning attire to be worn for 15 days. The emperor also granted Prince Gong the posthumous name "Zhong" (忠; literally "loyal"), gave him a place in the Imperial Ancestral Temple , and issued an edict honouring Prince Gong as

2448-575: The age of nine, Mianning successfully hunted a deer, which greatly amused the Qianlong Emperor. The emperor would abdicate five years after that incident, in 1796, when Mianning was 14. Mianning’s father Prince Yongyan was then enthroned as the Jiaqing Emperor, after which he made Lady Hitara (Mianning's mother) his empress consort. The elderly Qianlong would live three more years in retirement before dying in 1799, aged 87, when Mianning

2516-408: The death of the Xianfeng Emperor, Prince Gong launched the Xinyou Coup in 1861 with the aid of the Empress Dowagers Ci'an and Cixi and seized power from a group of eight regents appointed by the Xianfeng Emperor on his deathbed to assist his young son and successor, the Tongzhi Emperor . After the coup, he served as Prince-Regent from 1861 to 1865 and presided over the reforms implemented during

2584-548: The dynastic name to "Great Qing" in 1636 and claimed the title of emperor. In 1644, the Shunzhi Emperor began to rule over China proper , replacing the Ming dynasty . Empress Xiaojingcheng Empress Xiaojingcheng (19 June 1812 – 21 August 1855), of the Manchu Plain Yellow Banner Borjigit clan, was a posthumous name bestowed to a consort of Mianning, the Daoguang Emperor . She

2652-531: The emperor's harem. On 9 January 1841, she was elevated to "Imperial Noble Consort". When the Daoguang Emperor died on 26 February 1850, his fourth son, Yizhu, who was enthroned as the Xianfeng Emperor , refused to make Lady Borjigit the empress dowager . Instead, the Xianfeng Emperor honoured her with the title "Imperial Noble Consort Dowager Kangci". She and her only surviving son, Yixin, were not satisfied with this arrangement. According to imperial customs, Imperial Noble Consort Dowager Kangci had no right to claim

2720-474: The emperor's third son, Yiji, who would die prematurely on 22 January 1830, on 20 January 1831 to his sixth daughter, Princess Shou'en of the First Rank, and on 11 January 1833 to his sixth son, Yixin . On 17 September 1834, she was elevated to "Noble Consort Jing". The Daoguang Emperor's second empress consort, Empress Xiaoquancheng , died on 13 February 1840, and Noble Consort Jing was placed in charge of

2788-711: The fifth lunar month in the 17th year of the reign of the Jiaqing Emperor , which translates to 19 June 1812 in the Gregorian calendar . In 1825, Lady Borjigit entered the Forbidden City and was granted the title "Noble Lady Jing" by the Daoguang Emperor . On 22 November 1826, she gave birth to the emperor's second son, Yigang, who would die prematurely on 5 March 1827. Noble Lady Jing was elevated on 29 December 1826 to "Concubine Jing", and on 15 May 1827 to "Consort Jing". She gave birth on 2 December 1829 to

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2856-418: The inner imperial court and continue running the Zongli Yamen . Prince Gong personally thanked the empress dowagers and made a tearful apology. The empress dowagers issued a decree announcing: "The Prince practised favouritism. As we are bound by a common cause and have high expectations of him, we cannot show leniency in punishing him. He will still be allowed to oversee the Grand Council ." In March 1868, as

2924-689: The inner imperial court, assigned him to be in charge of patrol and defence matters, and ordered him to continue carrying the White Rainbow Sword given to him by their father. In October 1853, as the Taiping rebels closed in on Jinan (畿南; the area south of the Hai River ), Prince Gong was appointed to the Grand Council , which was in charge of military affairs. The following year, he received three additional appointments: dutong (都統; Banner Commander), you zongzheng (右宗正; Right Director of

2992-418: The negotiations with British, French and Russian officials, signing the Convention of Peking on behalf of the Qing dynasty. He subsequently wrote a memorial to the Xianfeng Emperor, requesting to be punished for signing an unequal treaty . The emperor replied, "The responsibility assigned to Prince Gong to carry on peace negotiations is not an easy one to shoulder. I deeply understand the difficult situation he

3060-523: The offerings from ceremonial events. He remained in Jietai Temple in western Beijing for most of the time. Prince Gong's seventh brother, Yixuan (Prince Chun) , replaced him as the head of the Grand Council. Some officials such as Baojun (寶鋆), Li Hongzao , Jinglian (景廉) and Weng Tonghe , who previously served in Prince Gong's administration, were also dismissed from office. The incident

3128-415: The position of empress dowager because she was neither the birth mother of the Xianfeng Emperor, nor did she hold the rank of Empress while the Daoguang Emperor was still living. Although the Xianfeng Emperor ignored her appeals to become empress dowager, he treated her respectfully like a stepmother. In 1852, Imperial Noble Consort Dowager Kangci, as the highest ranked living consort of the previous emperor,

3196-489: The practices of exempting Prince Gong from having to kowtow in the emperor's presence and having to write his name on memorials submitted to the emperor. Prince Gong was also appointed as zongling (宗令; Head of the Imperial Clan Court ). In 1884, when the French invaded Vietnam, Prince Gong and the members of the Grand Council were unable to arrive at a decision on whether or not to intervene in Vietnam and go to war with

3264-559: The rebels. After a friend betrayed him in March 1827, Khoja was sent to Beijing in an iron litter and subsequently executed, while the Qing Empire regained control of their lost territory. The Uyghur Muslim Sayyid and Naqshbandi Sufi rebel of the Afaqi suborder, Jahangir Khoja was sliced to death (Lingchi) in 1828 by the Manchus for leading a rebellion against the Qing . During

3332-435: The same year, Prince Gong displeased Empress Dowager Cixi when he strongly opposed her plan to rebuild the Old Summer Palace . In August 1874, Prince Gong was reprimanded and punished again for failing to observe court protocol. This time, he was demoted from a qinwang (first-rank prince) to a junwang (second-rank prince) . Zaicheng, Prince Gong's eldest son, also lost his beile title. Despite his demotion, Prince Gong

3400-525: The sixth son of the Daoguang Emperor . He was the third son of his mother, Imperial Noble Consort Jing , who was from the Khorchin Mongol Borjigit clan. He studied in the imperial library and practised martial arts with his fourth brother, Yizhu . He created 28 qiang (spear) movements and 18 dao (sword) movements, which were respectively named "Lihua Xieli" (棣華協力) and "Bao'e Xuanwei" (寶鍔宣威) by his father. His father also gave him

3468-421: The throne in 1850 after the death of the Daoguang Emperor and adopted the regnal title "Xianfeng"; he is thus historically known as the Xianfeng Emperor. In accordance with their father's secret edict, the newly enthroned Xianfeng Emperor granted Yixin the title " Prince Gong of the First Rank " (恭親王) in the same year. In 1851, the Xianfeng Emperor established an office for Prince Gong, gave him permission to enter

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3536-414: The title of "Wujing Boshi" ( 五經博士 ; Wǔjīng Bóshì ) to the descendants of Ran Qiu . The Daoguang Emperor died on 26 February 1850 at the Old Summer Palace , 8 km/5 miles northwest of Beijing , being the last Qing emperor to pass away in that Palace before it was burnt down by Anglo-French troops during the Second Opium War , a decade later. He was succeeded by his eldest surviving son, Yizhu, who

3604-496: The troops stationed there to enforce greater discipline and raise their morale. On one hand, Qinghui (慶惠) suggested to the Xianfeng Emperor to release Parkes and let Prince Gong continue negotiating. On the other hand, Yidao (義道) urged the emperor to surrender Beijing to the British and French. In the meantime, Anglo-French expeditionary forces captured the Old Summer Palace in the northwest of Beijing, which they proceeded to sack and burn. On 24 October 1860, Prince Gong concluded

3672-399: The two empress dowagers launched a coup – historically known as the Xinyou Coup (辛酉政變) – to oust the eight regents from power. The regents were arrested and removed from their positions of power. Zaichun, who was enthroned as the "Tongzhi Emperor", appointed Prince Gong as Prince-Regent (議政王) and granted him some special privileges. These privileges included: "iron-cap" status awarded to

3740-562: The war, the Daoguang Emperor ordered 187 British and Indian prisoners of war held captive in Taiwan Prefecture to be summarily executed in 1842 in retaliation for the Chinese defeat at the Battle of Ningpo ; the executions were carried out on 10 August by Chinese officials. The Chinese defeat in the war exposed Qing China's technological and military inferiority to European powers, which led China in being forced to cede Hong Kong to

3808-425: Was 17. In 1813, while he was still a prince, Mianning also played a vital role in repelling and killing Eight Trigrams invaders who stormed the Forbidden City . In September 1820, at the age of 38, Mianning inherited the throne after the Jiaqing Emperor died suddenly of unknown causes. He became the first Qing emperor who was the eldest legitimate son of his father. Now known as the Daoguang Emperor, he inherited

3876-407: Was Yongyan's second son, he was first in line after Prince Yongyan to his grandfather's throne. This was because according to the dishu system , his mother, Lady Hitara , was Yongyan's primary spouse whereas his elder brother was born to Yongyan's concubine. Mianning was favored by his grandfather, the Qianlong Emperor. He frequently accompanied his grandfather on hunting trips. On one such trip, at

3944-487: Was allowed to exercise her privilege to select potential candidates to be the Xianfeng Emperor's consorts. Among those she chose were the future Empress Dowager Ci'an and Empress Dowager Cixi . Imperial Noble Consort Dowager Kangci became critically ill in August 1855. Fearing that she had little time left, she conspired with her son, Yixin, to earn her the title of empress dowager before she died. Yixin then issued an imperial edict to honor his mother without full consent of

4012-521: Was because it was a capital crime for eunuchs to travel out of the Forbidden City without authorisation. The empress dowager became more suspicious of Prince Gong because she believed that he instigated Ding Baozhen to execute An Dehai. In October 1872, when the Tongzhi Emperor married the Jiashun Empress , he granted Prince Gong the "iron-cap" privilege again. He officially took over the reins of power from his regents in around February 1873. In

4080-484: Was changed from Mian to Min to avoid the relatively common character Mian . This novelty was introduced by his grandfather, the reigning Qianlong Emperor , who thought it was inappropriate to use a common character in the emperor's private name due to the longstanding practice of naming taboo . Mianning was the second son of Prince Yongyan , the 15th son and heir of the Qianlong Emperor . Even though he

4148-434: Was highly dependent on the continued flow of taxes from southern China via the Grand Canal , which the British expeditionary force easily cut off at Zhenjiang . The Daoguang Emperor ultimately had a poor understanding of the British and the Industrial Revolution that Britain and Western Europe had undergone, preferring to turn a blind eye to the rest of the world, though the distance from China to Europe most likely played

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4216-406: Was honoured as Empress Dowager Kangci during the reign of her step-son, Yizhu, the Xianfeng Emperor . She was the only Qing empress dowager who was neither her husband's empress consort nor emperor's mother. Empress Xiaojingcheng's personal name was not recorded in history. She was a Khorchin Mongol of the Plain Blue Banner by birth. The future Empress Xiaojingcheng was born on the 11th day of

4284-415: Was later enthroned as the Xianfeng Emperor . The Daoguang Emperor failed to understand the intention or determination of the Europeans, or the basic economics of a war on drugs. Although the Europeans were outnumbered and thousands of miles away from logistical support in their native countries, they could bring far superior firepower to bear at any point of contact along the Chinese coast. The Qing government

4352-420: Was previously the residence of the notoriously corrupt official Heshen . In 2006, Prince Gong's life was adapted into a Chinese television series, Sigh of His Highness , starring Chen Baoguo as the prince. Daoguang Emperor The Daoguang Emperor (16 September 1782 – 26 February 1850), also known by his temple name Emperor Xuanzong of Qing , personal name Mianning , was the eighth emperor of

4420-498: Was put into. There is no need to punish him." Prince Gong settled the diplomatic affairs in Beijing by the end of 1860. In 1861, Prince Gong set up the Zongli Yamen , which functioned as the Qing government's de facto foreign affairs ministry, and placed Guiliang (桂良) and Wenxiang in charge of it. He wrote a memorial to the Xianfeng Emperor, proposing to enhance the training of Banner Troops in Beijing and let Qing troops stationed in Jilin and Heilongjiang provinces train with

4488-427: Was still allowed to remain in the Grand Council. The following day, the empress dowagers ordered Prince Gong and Zaicheng to be restored as a qinwang and beile respectively. Towards the end of the year, the Tongzhi Emperor increased Prince Gong's salary by more than twice that of a normal qinwang , but died not long later in around December. The Guangxu Emperor , who succeeded the Tongzhi Emperor in 1875, continued

4556-572: Was still permitted to enter the inner imperial court and the imperial library. He was restored to his position as a dutong in June 1856, and further appointed as an Interior Minister (內大臣) in May 1859. In September 1860, during the Second Opium War , as British and French forces closed in on the capital Beijing , the Xianfeng Emperor ordered Zaiyuan and Muyin (穆廕) to negotiate for peace at Tongzhou with British and French officials. An Anglo-French delegation sent to negotiate with Chinese officials, which included Harry Smith Parkes and Henry Loch ,

4624-573: Was taken prisoner by soldiers led by Mongol general Sengge Rinchen during the negotiations. Rinchen then led mounted Mongol troops to attack a Franco-British force at the Battle of Palikao but was defeated. The Xianfeng Emperor recalled Zaiyuan and Muyin from Tongzhou, fled from Beijing with most members of his imperial court to Rehe Province , and appointed Prince Gong as an Imperial Commissioner with Discretion and Full Authority (欽差便宜行事全權大臣). Prince Gong moved to Changxindian (長辛店; in present-day Fengtai District , Beijing) and called for an assembly of

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